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Group 3 Discussion August 4-6

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Readings and discussion questions for this week:

(New Americans) The Road to Refugee Resettlement
  1. Shandy claims that the US used to resettle close to 58,000 refugees a year, sharply less after 2001. Thinking about the definition of refugee, do you think the US has a moral obligation to resettle more refugees? Explain your position. In answering this question you should think both about the history of the US as well as the current political and sociocultural climate.
  2. US policy scatters refugee groups across the country, arguing that separation increases an individual's ability to adapt to US culture. Thinking about this policy from an anthropological perspective, what are (other) pros and cons to this policy?

Medical Anthropology: Improving Nutrition in Malawi
  1. How do social and environmental conditions relate to child malnutrition in Malawi? How can this premise (that social and environmental conditions contribute to malnutrition) relate to (mal)nutrition in the United States?

Question Unrelated to Specific Readings
  1. Ruth Benedict, the matriarch of American anthropology, once claimed that, "the purpose of anthropology is to make the world safe for human difference." In discussions about anthropology in which I (Tori) have been involved, I have heard the claim that, "anthropology can save the world." Thinking about what you have learned about cultural anthropology, why might these claims have been made?